Personality of Year
When Michael Clarke took the helm of troubled food giant Premier Foods in August last year, his first thought was: “How could it have let itself get to this state?”, he told a national newspaper.
Since then he has won the respect of city analysts for evolving a strategy of debt reduction, through disposals, and profit maximisation that focused on eight so-called power brands.
Clarke has also focused the business around his power brands: Batchelors, Bisto, Ambrosia, Hovis, Loyd Grossman, Mr Kipling, Oxo and Sharwood’s.
Nearly a year into the role, Clarke has revealed a steely determination to lead Premier out of its debt pit. He has coped too with a damaging botulism outbreak, traced to the firm’s Loyd Grossman sauce, which hospitalised three children.
While Premier’s troubles are far from over, city analysts are taking a much more favourable view of the firm’s prospects than six months ago.
Demonstrating both the scale of Premier's problems and his faith in Clarke, one City analyst described his task as "definitely not Mission Impossible".